


It's Your Day

by kusudama_akatsuki



Series: Heirs of Legend [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Akatsuki is a law firm, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Female Uchiha Itachi, M/M, Multi, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28198299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kusudama_akatsuki/pseuds/kusudama_akatsuki
Summary: Looking in, some could say that Itachi Uchiha lived an idyllic life - she has a nice home, a loving husband, and a promising future with Akatsuki. But snapshots never reveal the full picture.
Relationships: Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Heirs of Legend [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115168
Kudos: 22





	It's Your Day

**Author's Note:**

> I'm bothered by the fact that there is a severe lack of fem!Itachi so this is me trying to fix some of that. This started as a purely self-indulgent one-shot. Suffice to say, those plans are now mostly out the window. While still self-indulgent, I have have plans to make this into a multi-chapter. I can't promise right now if chapters will be in chronological order. Special thanks to Coconut Mamba. Cross posted to ff.net.

There weren’t many people currently roaming the cold, windy streets of Tokyo's Shibuya ward. No one was bustling as they usually were during the work week. They were more relaxed doing errands. Itachi was one of those people, however she wasn’t braving the frigid streets.

It was inside an Ito Yokado store where she was currently browsing the brightly lit aisles. Deciding between two bottles of tonkatsu sauce, she put the one with less sugar content in the cart. Despite being a lover of sweets, she didn’t like more sugar than necessary in other products and had no plans to be a diabetic by thirty, or ever, if it could be prevented. In the next aisle over, she contemplated whether or not to get a bag of glutinous rice flour to make delicious hanami dango sticks. Who said it had to be sakura season to make tri-colored dumplings? There was a high chance that was a bag at home. If there wasn't one, most stores always stocked them. Despite having a full sized refrigerator, she and Shiisui shopped two to three times a week because they either forgot something or they wanted to spend some time outside their home. Neither of them were into karaoke nor other popular nightlife activities.

Moving along to a nearby aisle stocked with breakfast items in mind, she located the section that held her go-to breakfast choice and current craving. After some consideration between two jars of orange marmalade, Itachi selected a brand name jar. As a habit, she only took items placed towards the middle of shelves. Every time she was tempted to go with the cheaper option. And every time she was deterred by the brand name the marmalade is under produced under, more specifically who runs it. The head of Ne, a subsidiary of Konoha, is none other than Danzou Shimura and it was known that he is a businessman with many highly illicit practices. But he was also extremely shrewd and had very good lawyers so finding any evidence of his crimes is nearly impossible. Itachi had a feeling that the time when Shimura would pay for everything would be coming soon. Even dust swept under the rug sees light eventually.

Having gotten the jars, she continued to push her cart down to the next aisle. In the snack aisle, she saw a few bags of cereal and remembered being surprised upon learning that Americans ate that daily — and with milk too. It was astounding!

Due to being an avid lover of sweets, the bakery was her favorite part of supermarkets. She loved seeing all the dazzling cakes and cake slices and dainty pastries behind the glass display cases. So many styles, flavours, and colors. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the decadent assortment. Unable to resist, Itachi asked a baker for a small strawberry cream vanilla roll cake topped with mouthwatering strawberries. Everything in moderation was her motto. If she didn’t allow herself some sweets from time to time, she’d most likely binge on dango. And besides, they were having company over. So what if her brother didn't have the same taste buds as her. Stepping away from the next best thing to paradise, paradise being teahouses, she continued to the shelves of bread that lined the corner walls of the store, she made sure to get two loaves of French style bread as well.

Moving along to the produce section, she picked up ginger, green onions, lotus root, cabbage, and extra tomatoes on the vine for Sasuke, who was coming over for dinner tonight. While picking out her firm tomatoes, she couldn’t help but smile at the display with the red smiling, dancing fruits. Knowing her brother, if he had seen the display, he’d make a show of frowning at it, but would then smile privately. 

As it was winter, Itachi selected the best seasonal fruits. And so, for the next few days they’d be eating persimmons, apples, and Mandarin oranges. While they both ate fruit with every meal, Shisui was the most likely out of the two of them to go on an all fruit diet. There wasn't a single fruit he disliked including durians. Lastly from the meat department, two packages of pork loins were added to the cart.

Finished with her grocery shopping, Itachi made her way to the inclined moving walkway to go upstairs quite uneventfully until she heard, "Is that you, Itachi?" The voice was gruff, but definitely feminine.

Moving her cart to the side before turning around, Itachi saw a woman with brown hair.

Even through her thick winter outfit, it was easy to make out distinguished athletic body. “I thought it was you! We went to school together for a short while. It’s kinda funny how our brothers are the same age as well,” the woman laughed.

After racking her brain for several moments, Itachi still came up short of who the woman talking to her was. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”

“Oh sorry, I’m Hana. We sat next to each other in elementary school.”

Ah, she did remember a brown haired girl. It was strange for someone who only went to school with her for two years to talk to her like this. Growing up, Itachi had been called ‘gifted’ many times throughout her academic career, but like all people, she was by no means perfect. Being somewhat socially awkward is one of her quirks and being confronted by new people always made her nervous despite knowing the necessity of it. Izumi was the only one who could be considered Itachi's friend during her school years. She hoped Hana didn’t notice any skittish behavior as she swept loose strands of hair out of her face.

She nodded, “I think Kiba, my brother, really lucked out when he passed the entrance exam.” From the beaming smile, it was obvious that Hana was proud of her brother. “He’s studying biology with plans to go into forensic entomology. Kiba mentioned that Sasuke’s studying computer science,” the vigorous woman continued. Itachi nodded, Sasuke completed his undergrad at a prestigious school with a low exam pass rate.

“Yes, Sasuke just loves technology. He’s in the last semester of his master’s program,” she responded to the unasked question and flashed a smile for added effect. She truly was proud of her brother, but this woman had no right asking her these things for the sake of talking. After the first question, Itachi was successful in redirecting other questions back to Hana, to which the known dog lover cheerfully answered.

“We should get together for a coffee sometime!” Hana was a social butterfly in their school days and Itachi very much doubted that changed in adulthood.  _ What more could we possibly talk about over coffee? And why get coffee when there’s boba? _

“We should,” Itachi nodded politely despite having no desire to meet with Hana again. She was reluctant to meet up with a stranger at this point. To keep up this charade, she even offered her number first. Albeit, it was a Google Voice number, but Hana didn’t need to know about pesky details. They bid their farewells and Hana continued with her shopping.

Proceeding to make her way upstairs, Itachi awaited her turn to get on the walkway. Upon entering the checkout area, she spotted a lane where the cashier was nearly finished with the only customer and made her way there. Having placed her foodstuff on the conveyor belt, the lawyer tied her long coat securely in preparation for the onslaught of the cold air outside. She never liked the cold despite being raised in Hokkaido. It was one of the reasons she moved to Tokyo.

Itachi went out of the store, carefully carrying three canvas bags of daily fare and walked a little more than three kilometers to a two story house with a small yard. It was a quiet street, as the neighbors' dog rarely barked.

"Aka," she greeted. The high wall prevented her from seeing the dog, but she caught a few glimpses of the red Shikoku jumping through gaps on either side of the gate. Once at hers, Itachi went to unlatch the gate and made her way into the small yard.

While she didn't have a green thumb, all of her trees and plants thrived. She was very proud of her bonsai trees, orchids, and yellow Mai potted outside. In about a month, the bonsai-like tree will bear many beautiful yellow blossoms. She remembered the day it came into her possession fondly. It had been their second anniversary and Shisui was able to surprise her beyond belief having acquired the tree from an acquaintance.

**❀**

The weight was literally lifted from her shoulder as she removed her thick burgundy coat. While her flats were still comfortable, nothing beat walking around her house in socks or slippers. Though at a hundred and seventy five centimeters, she didn’t need to wear heels, but sometimes the situation called for it. Switching her outdoor shoes with adequate home footwear on, it was time to go into the kitchen.

While setting down her latest grocery haul, she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her two cats sleeping cosily on top of each other in a small patch of sunlight. She put away the citron tea and marmalade in the cupboard. The cake and pork went into the refrigerator for the time being. The delectable fruits were settled onto the fruit tray with care with the eight oranges circling the five persimmons and three apples. Her remaining food items were set on the counter, ready to be made into a meal for their small dinner party of three.

Giving the counter a once-over, she was satisfied that all of the food items were put away. The long haired woman strode into the bathroom and placed her all black outfit of slacks, blouse, and blazer into the hamper. Itachi didn’t think of herself as stylish, but she prided herself in having thoughtfully purchased clothing items that are durable, timeless pieces. A capsule wardrobe, Konan called it. Itachi didn’t think much of it other than that clothing, like other material possessions, should be kept to a minimum, though she didn’t consider herself a minimalist. Being a doting pet owner, she spoiled her cats with toys, food, and attention.

Whilst turning around, her reflection grabbed her reflection, specifically her bangs.  _ Hn, could use a trim.  _ She then padded softly to the large bedroom across the hall. Though there was ample space for two adults in the room, it resembled the rest of the house, fairly Zen. The only furnishings seen were a simple armoire, a bookcase and a low table; all were made out of the finest hinoki. The futon was neatly tucked away in the closet, waiting to be used again tonight. 

From the armoire, she donned some warm pants and a long-sleeved shirt that strangely smelled like Shisui’s aftershave.  _ Odd.  _ Chilled as she stepped out to the living area, she took a cashmere sweater that was draped over the sofa.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the lithe brunette began the preparations. To have enough time for it to bake and cool, she started with the panko first. Taking a loaf of bread out of its packaging, she skilfully removed the crust, leaving only the white interior behind. She shredded it onto a baking sheet and placed it in the oven, setting the time to ten minutes and the temperature to a hundred and seventy seven degrees celsius. Grabbing the apple-shaped timer on top of the oven, she turned it to the first bolded tick.

With the panko in the oven, it was time to start on the miso soup. Gathering the ingredients from the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, Itachi located the opened package of soy bean paste and container of dashi from the fridge  _ Not super fresh. Oh well.  _ Shisui had made it earlier in the week using kombu kelp and bonito flakes. From the produce drawer, she withdrew enoki mushrooms and leeks.

Taking a glimpse in the dry food cupboard by the wall, she immediately noticed an empty space where a bag of glutinous rice flour should be. SIghing, she penned that to the shopping list on the fridge.

She whipped her head back towards the timer. Only ten seconds left. Springing into action before the eventual  _ ding  _ went off, Itachi put on her trusty black oven mitts with red clouds, a promotional item from work, and pulled the oven door back as soon as the cooking instrument stopped. In an effort to prevent burning, she gently stirred the bread center with chopsticks. Once finished, she popped the tray back into the oven.

_ Beep _ . Itachi was quick enough to turn off the oven before it beeped again and grabbed the mitts again. Shisui arrived home just as Itachi had set the panko on the counter to dry. He walked into the kitchen carrying a bag of what could be groceries. He set the bag on the dining table and pulled out a bottle of whisky and sake. “Just in case,” he winked. In the event that Obito stopped by with Kakashi in tow, they’d have enough drinks for the latter to mooch off of.

Obito usually brought Kakashi with him whenever he visited as they shared an apartment together. Also because Kakashi was Itachi's mentor some years ago. A quirk of his is that he always wore a mask despite never appearing sick or suffering from allergies. 

Itachi always thought the mask made her mentor look like those underground musicians with the colorful hair Sasuke told her about. Obito's paramour would've been thought to be part of the same scene as those musicians if it weren't for the fact that they're so indie, most people have never heard of it. Her brother, on the other hand, is a different story. Sasuke has voiced his strong opinions against that scene multiple times, but as his older sister, she knew he enjoyed listening to the bands. In fact, she once saw a live ticket he had hurriedly tried to hide under a stack of papers.

Having freshened up and changed into clean clothes, Shisui slipped on an apron and began the prep work for the pork. The apron was yet another promo item from Akatsuki. They tried their best to live healthy lifestyles by getting plenty of exercise — more than the average commuter, their eating habits weren’t the best given Itachi’s sweet tooth and neither of them skimping on salt. 

As they both lived a fairly healthy lifestyle that included plenty of exercise and water. Sleep was something they both could use more of though and eating habits were always improving. Thus, in their quest to eat healthier without sacrificing too much taste, they had long ago decided to make baked tonkatsu early on in their relationship. They've tweaked this recipe enough times to get it to work well despite never strictly following any guide.

Shisui got to work on the pork loins. Taking out three pork loins, he set them down on the darker wooden chopping board that was strictly meant for meat and seafood. Even though Itachi had purchased lean meat, there they both desired meat without fat, so Shisui skillfully sliced off the small amounts of fat that remained and made a few slits in the connective tissue to ensure that the tonkatsu won’t curl up during the baking process. Next, he used the meat tenderizer to quickly pound both sides of the meat. He sprinkled on a few dashes of salt and ground pepper to both sides.

Itachi had improved greatly over the years, but her cooking still wasn't the best. A few months ago, it was thought she had improved enough that eggs would be a safe choice for her to make.

How wrong that turned out to be. Therefore, Shisui did the bulk of the cooking leaving Itachi mainly doing the prep work. He even called her his sous chef more often than not. 

After making quick work of shredding the cabbage, Itachi began slicing the tomatoes. With the cabbage and tomatoes all cut, Itachi prepared three plates. On two plates, she placed the same amount of cabbage, more on the third. On the two that had equal amounts of cabbage, she placed an extra helping of tomatoes and halved the remaining tomato slices.

Done with plating the vegetables, Itachi ran off, heading for the bathroom. “Ah, I’ll be back.”

_ Might as well take a break _ , he poured a cup of hot water from the dispenser and spooned in roughly two teaspoons of sencha. When the color of the tea was dark enough, he poured in some cool water from the pitcher. Blowing into the cup for good measure, he took a sip and froze.  _ Bleh. _ Even grass tasted better than this! Looking at the bag again, he realised it was the garbage Kakashi had given everyone on New Year’s. Have they really gone through that much tea to be drinking the repulsive tea Itachi’s mentor gave them? And why hadn’t it been thrown out before? Better late than never, right? He tossed the bag in the garbage bin and wrote  _ tea _ on the refrigerator’s shopping list. Hopefully Itachi knew better than to buy weak ass tea.

Peeking in the cupboard again, he spied a single box of barley tea.  _ Oh it’s the good kind, too. _ He dumped out his cup in favor of fresh, hot water. There was something special about drinking tea. It didn’t matter at what time or what was going on, tea made him feel like all his troubles were gone. Like right now, you could tell him he had to cook for the entire extended family, and he wouldn’t stress about it.

His wife came back, "What are you drinking?"

He took two more sips before responding, “Barley tea." 

Silently agreeing that tea is a good idea, she opened the cupboard that housed their tea and frowned. “Something wrong?” Shisui asked.

“The sencha’s gone." Her face was turned, but he had no doubt she was pouting.

“Threw it out since Kakashi has no business giving anyone tea. Pregnancy hormones ruin your taste buds or something?”

“It‘s still better than the English Breakfast tea from the previous year,” she defended. Neither of them were partial to western tea blends. “There's a new jar of citron tea.”

“That’s not even real tea. You can’t serve that,” he said disapprovingly. To call the mixture of syrup and yuzu zest  _ tea  _ is a serious offence in Shisui’s book. Though he debated if it was worse than the week old yard clippings Kakashi gave them.

Defeated, she sighed. “Fine then, I’ll go to 7-Eleven. You wanted sencha, anything else?” Itachi had already put on her coat.

"No, no. It's cold. Let me go, I wouldn't want you to catch a cold," he wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed her still flat belly.

"Alright," she relented, despite not even putting up a fight. "Can you get me a bar of dark chocolate, too?” ‘ _ It's for the baby _ ’, a tilt of her head seemed to say as she leaned her cheek onto him. “Eighty percent.” It was mainly wishful thinking, but occasionally the convenience stores did carry dark chocolate with cocoa percentages.

Upon hearing of her strange craving, Konan had hounded Sasori, to make a box suited to Itachi’s taste and gave her an early Christmas present filled with many varieties of indulgent dark chocolate. The violet haired woman also insisted on giving as many as Itachi needed, at Sasori’s expense of course. But even though self-control was strictly implemented at first, as the weeks went by the remaining chocolates were polished off. It wasn't until a week prior that the chocolates were gone. With the holiday season in full swing, Sasori has been unable to procure another batch for the foreseeable future.

"Eighty percent cocoa!?”

Itachi tapped her cheek thoughtfully, "Highest percentage you can find," she decided. At this rate, she’d probably make him find her a hundred percent bar in the coming months if another chocolate box didn’t arrive on her desk soon.

Of course he had married a deviant when it came to pregnancy cravings. Although he really should’ve seen it coming; there were warning signs coming from miles away. Itachi took most conventional things and threw them out the window without even realising she was doing so. Didn't most women want fast food and sweets? From his observations, his wife craved bitter tasting foods, despite saying she craved sour and tangy food and drinks. She had started eating bitter melons in her first trimester. He hated those bizarre looking cucumber impostors. Instead of sending him out for burgers, she had him buy dark chocolate bars from the twenty four hour convenience stores nearby.

Shisui proceeded to wrap a scarf and tucked it inside his jacket. He took his wallet and headed out for the corner store.

Humming, she poured the hot water and mixed in two teaspoons of the  _ offensive  _ tea. This brand was a favorite for many people and for a good reason too as it was mildly sweet and tangy. Out of habit, she sliced some ginger down to slivers and added it to her cup. Not only did it help with nausea, thankfully hers has been mild. Remembering that she hadn't had a proper rest in over six hours, the expectant mother sat herself down on the couch and began to absently flip through a gardening magazine while waiting.

Soon after she had settled down, a soft  _ meow _ alerted the presence of one of her pussycats. Dango leapt onto the couch and was splayed on her back in record time with her paws in the air. “Did you have a good nap?” No answer. Well, it wasn’t like she was expecting one.

Dango turned herself over and was on all fours again and turned her head. “You’re right, I should get back to making soup. But first...” Itachi proceeded to scratch the tabby’s chin. Dango moved into her owner’s lap and nuzzled against Itach’s belly. “You two won’t have my full attention soon,” she murmured.

Seeing the cat follow her into the kitchen, Itachi gave her a piece of enoki she had set out earlier. Looking at the ingredients on the counter, she felt something was missing, or rather two somethings. Tofu-carrot-enoki-leek miso soup it is. She saved the carrots for last when cutting up vegetables and tofu. After slicing the carrot stick, she expertly made a few extra cuts to each rounded carrot slice. Voilà. Circular carrots no more, they were now shaped like perfect sakura blossoms. _Who needs a vegetable cutter?_ It was strange, while she was by no means a “good” cook, she could easily make things that could be boiled or steamed, like soups, stews, and of course, dango. Also, she was good as a pro when it came to knifework. But it was all of the other aspects that she lacked as a cook. Now to add the carrots, dashi, and water and bring to a boil. “And now we wait,” she thought aloud.

_ Creak.  _ The front door opened and Miso, their other cat, had stalked her way to the flooring above the  _ genkan. _ Both cats were very well trained and knew better than to set their paws on the entryway. They were strictly indoor cats with supervised time outside depending on the weather.

“I got roasted sencha and jasmine tea.” Shisui procured two bags of tea leaves from his canvas shopping bag. “Not sure how dark this is, but it’s bitter at least,” beaming as he proudly held a box of mint dark chocolate. It was meant to be a gift with the box thoughtfully designed with a ribbon and holographic snow. “And it’s a hundred yen extra for their seasonal promotion.”  _ Highway robbery. _

Her inner child found it too hard to resist peeking at the seasonal chocolate. After unboxing the chocolate and pulling the tray out of the plastic wrapper, sixteen little rectangles embossed with alternating gift boxes and ribbons were welcomed into the light again. The raised chocolate was lightly dusted with gold edible glitter. “I’ll be sure to send a picture to Sasori.” She snapped a few pictures and sent them over Line.

Being a chocolate enthusiast, Sasori had come up with many unique flavours and designs, but there were times when he hit a creative block. Seeing his desperation, Deidara suggested to Kisame to send Sasori pictures anytime he got chocolate. Kisame, being the opportunist, bought every single chocolate item he could find in stores and roped everyone else into it. And oddly enough, Akatsuki staff members still send photos, but only when they happen to have chocolate. Other times, they’d send messages regarding the ingredients. These chocolate squares were by no means spectacular but were rather charming in their simplicity.

Shisui glanced at the ornate wall clock, “Guess we should get back to work, Sauce will be here soon.” There was a day in Shisui’s young life where he realised that the English word for ‘sauce’ sounded similar to Sasuke. And since that day, Sasuke had to bear the brunt of being called Sauce.

Seeing that Itachi had set the tray of fresh panko already, he gathered the remaining ingredients — olive oil, all-purpose flour, and an egg. Closing the refrigerator —  _ smack! _

He didn’t even place the egg close to the edge of the counter and it still rolled off. Itachi had gotten up from her place at the kotatsu, “I’ll clean it up.”

As the floor was being mopped up, Shisui began beating his breading mixture. “Water’s boiling.”

Itachi added the miso paste and the other ingredients, leaving the sliced leeks for a garish. She stirred a few times before the intercom chimed and Sasuke's face appeared on the screen. "He's here. I'll get it," Itachi hurriedly went outside to the gate and unlatched it.

"Sasuke, thanks for coming," the greeting floated into the chilly air.

"Thanks for having me." Sasuke always enjoyed spending time with his sister. He remembered the times in his youth that he resented Shisui for taking his beloved blood relative away from him. The source of his resentment was never bothered by his actions, most likely due to Sasuke himself never doing anything beyond saying some clipped words at his elder.

“Foolish little brother,” he heard as he was poked on his forehead. “Don’t you realize I  _ want _ you over?”

Sasuke handed his sister a bouquet of begonias, sweet peas, and hyssop. "I went to the Yamanaka's flower shop and Ino made me this," he explained. The charm of the Yamanaka family’s flower shop was that they cared more about their customers than their bottom line and were eco-friendly. All of their packaging was biodegradable with the bouquets wrapped intricately in brown paper. The flowers themselves were beautiful so why distract from that with colored plastics? Even the ribbons used to finish off the bouquets were responsibly sourced and unwanted vases could be returned to the store for re-use.

Having street lamps with enough light was a perk of this street. Itachi pondered at the flowers for a bit, "You're thanking me with the sweet peas and hyssop and gifting me with the begonias. Come on, let's go inside before Shi files a missing person’s report." She took his arm into hers and led him to the house. Shisui was known to fret over Itachi being gone for long periods of time. One time it did escalate to a report almost being filed.

Bright, white light spilled out into the dimly lit yard as Itachi pushed against the door. Shisui turned off the stove before yelling, “Just in time, Sasuke! I’m finishing up here and it’ll be about half an hour before we eat.”

"Hi, Shisui. This is for you as well," he handed his beloved sister a box of chocolates. The long haired woman thanked him and they both removed their shoes at the genkan and the moment Sasuke slid his feet into slippers in the house proper, Miso was busy meowing and rubbing at his leg. He bent down and affectionately scratched between her ears. The tuxedo cat proceeded to crane her neck and let out a satisfying  _ pur _ .

Sasuke looked around for any sign of Dango and found the multicolored Japanese bobtail perched on the part of the walkway that was above the sitting area. Shisui had built an elaborate walkway that consisted of a spiral staircase with wedge steps that led up to connecting beams in the space close to the ceiling after they had gotten Miso. He said it was for the cats, but they both knew it was so Itachi could watch her cats enjoy themselves. There was a certain hierarchy in Itachi’s life with Sasuke being first, the cats in second, and Shisui being dead last despite being married to her.

In the meantime, Itachi had filled a vase with water and dropped a tablet of aspirin into a spray bottle. Waiting for it to dissolve, she settled the flowers into the vase and shook the bottle for good measure before spraying the leaves and flowers. From what Sasuke could remember, their mother had done the same with cut flowers to make them last longer. The flower vase sat on top of a small table near the entryway.

“Need any help?”

Seeing that Naruto was regularly only eating instant ramen, Sasuke had taken to cooking nourishing meals. In his own strange way of showing affection, he never admitted that he was specifically cooking for Naruto. He always made lame excuses of making too much of something and asking the instant ramen connoisseur if he wanted any or outright guilting his friend into eating nutritious, unprocessed food.

“It’s nice to have some  _ real  _ help around here. Tach’s helping us plenty by staying put,” he chortled. Itachi threw him a mock glare. “You can batter your own ‘loin if you want. Not  _ those  _ loins,” he sniggered.

“Alright. My sister can cook, you know. Didn’t know women were a hindrance in the kitchen.”

“You never told him?” Shisui guffawed.

Itachi shot him a pleading glance. Unfortunately Shisui had no mercy tonight. Bastard _. _

“That full course meal you had when you were what, seven? She didn’t make any of it, she ordered it from the local kaiseki restaurant. But the good news is that she was able to plate everything all fancy, just like if she really did make it herself!”

Itachi’s cheeks flushed pink in total molecular mortification.

Sasuke felt his stomach drop. He had fond memories of the week their parents went to Asahikawa for a business trip. On the weekend his parents were due back, Itachi had sent him outside to play while she  _ supposedly  _ cooked an extravagant meal for them.

“I helped carry all the food back since she didn’t want to take two trips.”

Unsure of how to process this new information, Sasuke decided to keep himself busy. He spied a new bottle of tonkatsu sauce sitting on the counter.  _ Really? She bought tonkatsu sauce?  _ Annoyed, he looked through the cupboards to gather the ingredients to make the sauce. Luckily, Itachi had an organization system similar to their mother, so things were where he expected them. Ketchup, oyster sauce —  _ damn it _ , they didn’t have any Worcestershire sauce.

_ You win, Sister. _ Begrudgingly, he poured what appeared to be an adequate amount into a small bowl. Who said he had to serve store bought sauce as is? He located and ground up a bit of both black and white sesame seeds with a pestle and mixed it into the tonkatsu sauce.  _ Perfect.  _ He then helped Shisui with breading the cuts of meat and seasoned his own slice with extra pepper. He’d probably still add hot sauce to his dish of tonkatsu sauce later.

With the pork loins in the fryer, Shisui and Sasuke sat down to enjoy some tea at the kotatsu. The atmosphere at his sister's house was always more relaxed than what they were used to growing up. Here he was expected to sit crossed legged to be more comfortable instead of in seiza. Itachi sat across from him and poured him a cup of tea from the porcelain pot that previously sat in the table's center.

"Thanks," as he blew into his cup, the fragrance of jasmine tea engulfed his senses. There was no point in asking to know that he wouldn’t stay up longer than anticipated, in fact, he might even sleep better. Jasmine tea had to be a gift from the heavens. Itachi continuously poured more tea when the cups were emptied.

It was Dango's turn to take an interest in the youngest Uchiha. She had descended from her favorite beam and was now sitting in front of him, staring. The spiky haired male took this as a cue to shower her with attention. Unknown to many, he is also fond of cats. It was something Itachi had instilled in him at a young age when she took care of a litter after they were abandoned by their mother.

After several moments of being scratched and petted, she grew bored of Sasuke and stalked over to where Miso was lazing on her cat bed. Likely to play-fight.

On his way to check on things, Shisui made a detour over to the small table near the entryway to inspect the flowers and laughed. "I see Obito's gifts are making the rounds earlier this year." The gift in question was none other than the box of seashell chocolates Sasuke had handed Itachi at the gate. Similar to Kakashi, Obito gave different types of chocolates each year. They were all European chocolates, so it was easy to tell this particular box had been re-gifted.

It didn't matter that Obito knew Sasuke didn't like sweets or how many times the younger Uchiha politely declined. He was gifted a box every year without fail. Shisui suspected that it was a surefire way to give Itachi two boxes. Anko was the only other person he knew that enjoyed the creamy hazelnut filled seashells much as his wife. “Too bad Tachi’s been in a dark chocolate mood as of late,” Shisui said as he took his seat on the floor pillow. 

"How's Naruto doing?" Itachi asked with genuine curiosity.

“He’s doing alright. He has more hours at work now,” Sasuke said nonchalantly. “Him and his parents went to dinner with a distant cousin of Miss Kushina the other day.”

"I'm a bad host,” Shisui suddenly groaned into his hands.

Sasuke took a jab, "You're the host? I thought Itachi invited me."

"Well it was my idea.” A lie. “Would you like anything to drink? We have sake." Shisui pulled out two cups from the cabinet.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at this. While both he and Itachi disliked alcohol, he occasionally drank and from what he knew, Shisui only drank with a few friends. He and Shisui both hated the after work drinking parties that are considered normal for salarymen.

Seeing Sasuke's disdain he clarified, "Come on, we're celebrating! We have soda too, if you prefer that." The curly haired male took a sip of his tea.

"Yashiro finally croaked?" Sasuke deadpanned.

Shisui did his best not to laugh and ended up having a coughing fit after choking on his drink. Itachi was appalled, "Sasuke, you shouldn't say things like that," she chastised. It wasn't a secret that the three of them despised the elder man, but Sasuke's comment was in bad taste, even though they all thought things would be easier without him.

Regaining his composure, "No, we’re celebrating ‘cause you're gonna be an uncle," Shisui announced, earning him an elbow to the ribs. "What? You were taking too long," he defended as he absently rubbed the back of his head, not at all perturbed by his wife's glare.

"I didn't agree to this," Sasuke deadpanned.

“Too bad, you didn’t object to us getting married.”

If he had been younger, he most likely would’ve said something. But he had matured and realised that his sister was grown up and couldn’t always be there for him. And that Shisui didn’t actually possess any bad qualities. Sure he sometimes hid behind a playful mask, but he was efficient and serious in most situations.

Not wanting to humor his good natured brother anymore, he turned to Itachi and asked, "How far along are you?"

Itachi sets two cups and returns to the kitchen for the third cup and a bottle of white grape sparkling. "A little over four months." She had wanted to be absolutely sure as there was always a chance things could go wrong. While she took the necessary precautions and supplements, she hadn’t really thought of herself as becoming a mother yet. Those were thoughts for the last few months.

“Do Mother and Father know?” Sasuke had doubts his parents were informed before him, but hopefully their mother knew at least.

“Not yet, I’ll tell them when we visit in a few weeks.” She imagined her mother would be gushing over while her father would most likely be impassive as always.

“Are you coming this year?” Itachi asked. Both siblings have made their yearly pilgrimage back to Hokkaido together ever since Sasuke moved to Tokyo.

“Most likely, I shouldn’t have any outstanding projects. I’ll be bringing my laptop anyways.”

“Good, let’s all go together. The convertible’s roomier than you’d think.” And so the conversation continued until the fryer went off. Itachi set off and took out the crispy, golden brown pork loins and placed them onto the prepared plates. After cutting the meat into strips, she ladled soup into bowls. WIth Shisui’s help, they had a full table of rice, miso soup and tonkatsu pork with salad.

“Depending on your definition, ‘Tach  _ can _ cook, but her skills are mostly confined to boiling and steaming things,” Shisui clarified. "She's not so awful… anymore."

With the cold weather, it didn't take very long for their plates and bowls to cool. They said their thanks and began to consume the prepared dinner. Shisui ended up giving Itachi a bit of his cabbage and Sasuke poured extra hot sauce onto his plate.

**❀**

After the meal, they had several games of Mario Kart that ended with Sasuke being victorious every time and despite their best efforts to end the merriment early, it was nearing nine thirty.

“I could drive you home,” Shisui offered, even though there were still trains running. As the proud owner of a convertible, he enjoyed driving around when he wasn’t going to and from work.

“Or you could spend the night here,” Itachi suggested, “We have extra futons. And it’ll be like old times.”

"Hn." How could Sasuke possibly say no to the magic words? “Sure, one night wouldn’t hurt and I don’t have anything planned tomorrow either.”

And so, after everyone had finished their nightly routines, Itachi laid out a double futon where the kotatsu had been earlier. 

Snuggled warmly against her brother, Itachi breathed deeply. “Sorry I led you to believe such a fallacy for all of these years. I don’t deserve your trust anymore.”

“Well, I don’t remember you ever saying that you made the food. Besides, you can’t be good at  _ everything. _ ”  _ You’d be boring then, _ he wanted to add.

“Lying by omission is still bad.”

“There are worse things to lie about. I don’t really care. It was just food and you’re still my sister. Hold on, where did you get the money from?”

“Just odd jobs for Aunt Uruchi, raking leaves, running errands, and such.”

“Hey, you can take cooking classes with an instructor.”

Itachi grimaced. She had taken a class in the past that resulted in the instructor announcing he would live the rest of his life in a monastery. The instructor had studied French cooking in France and returned to Japan to cure his homesickness. She had been too ambitious in wanting to learn French cuisine. Her brother did have a point and she has improved, the question being by how much.

Seeing her pain, Sasuke wanted to change the subject. “Can I feel?” he asked apprehensively. 

Itachi smiled warmly, “Sure, but there isn’t anything to feel yet. Probably another month.” She placed her brother’s hand on her belly.

“We’re looking at a May baby. Shisui thinks I’m still flat, but I think it looks like I gained weight.”

Sasuke couldn’t help but chuckle.  _ While true, with your fitness routine, weight gain doesn't come easy.  _ “I’m happy for you. Shisui’s great for you.”

“I’m glad you got over your issues with him,“ she poked Sasuke’s forehead.

Both siblings turned when they heard footsteps. “Can I sleep with you guys? It’s cold alone in the room.” Shisui had hauled his futon out into the living area.

Sasuke smirked, “Been away from Hokkaido for too long? And sure, as long as you two don’t do anything weird.”

“Can’t be anything weirder than what you do with — oww!” Itachi had once again elbowed him in the ribs.

“Let’s just go to sleep now, alright?”

“Sure, goodnight Sasuke,” says Shisui with an exaggerated yawn.

“Night, Itachi.”

“Goodnight, Shisui.”


End file.
